A clinical case of a couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy is presented in order to highlight the difficulties and the sense of suffering present in ‘old-style marriages’ that have tried to take up the challenge of modernity. In fact, as the holding structure of the strength of blood ties and institutionally formalised bonds carries less weight, a greater fragility in the capacity for partners to have a relationship seems to emerge. The authors enquire how, in the modern couple, intrapsychic aspects might interact with the social pressures that face new relational configurations.